


magnetism

by orphan_account



Series: cornerstone [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Adopted Peter Parker, Clingy Peter Parker, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Parent Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:27:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21818899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: If there's one thing that Tony has come to learn in the past few months; it's that Peter can be clingy when he wants to.And surprisingly, Tony finds it satisfying holding the kid close to his chest when he dozes off in the middle of a movie or holding his hand when they're out in public.It's the family life, he supposes.Or, Tony doesn't mind that sometimes his kid likes to cling to him like glue
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: cornerstone [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1552690
Comments: 45
Kudos: 471





	magnetism

**Author's Note:**

> this chapter is somewhat based off of my own life,,i too was adopted and my parents love to tell stories about my clingy phase at family gatherings and embarrass me as they do so
> 
> (if you haven't read accolade, the first part of this series, please do so!! it provides context!!)
> 
> i also have a tumblr now if y'all wanna mingle ;)

If there's one thing that Tony has come to learn in the past few months; it's that Peter can be clingy when he wants to. He doesn't know a file full of information about Peter's past, aside from the fact that his parents and close relatives died ten years ago and he's been through numerous foster homes since. But his social worker says it's mostly touch-starvation, again, from years of switching homes and families.

Surprisingly, Tony finds it satisfying holding the kid close to his chest when he dozes off in the middle of a movie or holding his hand when they're out in public. 

Maybe it's the safety that he can provide for Peter or maybe it's the feeling of knowing that his kid is comfortable enough to slip into his arms for a hug. Either way, he likes providing comfort in any given way possible.

If anyone had told a thirty-three year old Tony Stark that he'd submit to the wonder that is fatherhood, he would have thrown himself into a laughing fit. Three quarters of a year in and Tony can wholeheartedly understand why people say parenthood is one of the best and most magical experiences one can live through.

And admittedly, Peter is- in his eyes- everything and more. He's the good of the world wrapped in a thin layer of flesh. He doesn't think he would say that about any other kid, maybe he's just biased. But of course he is, this is his kid; his kid that does the dishes though he isn't obligated to, his kid that likes to doze off on the fuzzy rug in the living room, that sings along to London Calling whenever Tony puts the album on.

And if Peter wants glue himself to his side, so be it, Tony will not deny him of said request.

Ultimately, it's the family life, he supposes.

And he likes it. Very much.

Rhodey invites them up to Pennsylvania for Easter Sunday. They bring a lemon pie along with them and Mama Rhodes shrivels to pieces when she sees and engulfs Peter into a sweet hug. 

"She's basically your grandma kid," Tony laughs, pulling Rhodey into a hug of his own.

"And I'm also going to spoil you _rotten_ , look at how adorable you are!" she squeals.

The kid shyly smiles and blinks up at her. "Hi Mrs Rhodes,"

"Oh please, child, call me Roberta."

And as things go, Peter develops a natural friendship with Rhodey's mother over the course of the day.

Tony occasionally drifts from the back patio where he, Rhodey and the rest of family are nursing separate beers (or in his case, orange juice) to the living room where Mama Rhodes and Peter are flipping through an album of old MIT days.

"See, that's James and Anthony when they came home for Christmas in eighty-six," she explains to Peter, who's sitting in her lap as they look at pictures Tony'd definitely wince at looking back now. "and here's them during the summer of eighty-eight. Immediately after this picture was taken, they both tripped over the ledge and fell into the pool,"

Tony crosses his arms and leans against the doorway as a smirk pulls to his lips. "Talking about Honeybear and I behind our backs I see?" but there's no trace of offense present in his voice. If anything, he fully encourages it.

Peter excitedly looks up and smiles, grabbing the album and carefully climbing off of his definitely-grandma's lap. He makes a move, running to Tony with the album in hand. "Your haircut was so silly!" he holds the scrapbook up and wide as a fairly large picture of him with a bowlcut singles on the page.

For the sake of the kid's amusement, Tony pretends to throw up which results in Peter collapsing into chortles of laughter. 

Dinner time comes and something in his heart blossoms with joy when his kid goes and takes the seat next to Mama Rhodes. He watches from his place across the table, neighboring Rhodey, as the other two talk shop about whatever the topic of their conversation seems to be about. 

He isn't sure if Peter would have had the same relationship with Howard. Maybe with Maria, but definitely not Howard. His father barely had time for him, why would he have time for his grandson?

"I think your kid just stole our mom Tones," his best friend snickers and forks some chicken into his mouth.

But Tony couldn't care less. "Eh," he shrugs, "I'll let him get away with this one."

Evidently, dinner time also comes as a gateway for all the others to coo over Peter. They surround him like moths flying around a lamp and despite the kid's shyness, he tries to interact with them as much as he's capable.

"You're _so_ cute,"

"You and Tony kind of look alike, brown hair, brown eyes you know?"

"Oh my gosh, I like Wonder Woman too!"

Surely, all the attention makes Peter flush a bright shade of red. It just makes everyone's hearts melt faster than the already were.

Tony can't blame them, it's out of personal experience.

Their (homemade) lemon pie serves as a wonderful conclusion to the meal and by the time everyone has fully digested, it's 10:00 pm and over. In other words, time for him and his kid to go home.

Just as he's pulling his jacket on there's a tug that comes from the hem of his t-shirt and he looks down to find a bleary-eyed Peter, yawning with a wide mouth. "I'm sleepy,"

"Hi sleepy, I'm Tony," he teases.

Peter pouts, leaning against the side of his body.

"Alright hotshot, c'mere," lucky for him, the kid weighs closely to nothing and picking up proves to be somewhat easy. He ensures comfort by resting Peter close to his hip and tucking his head between his shoulder and his neck. "This good?"

"Mhm,"

"Okay, let's go say bye-bye to everyone."

After having thanked the Rhodes family for the invite and the food and the company, Tony walks out to the driveway with Peter in his arms, Rhodey and his mother following close behind. The first attempt at getting his kid to latch off of him and settle in the backseat is a failure. So is the second, the third and fourth. Even the fifth. His best friend and Mama Rhodes provide a laughing track in the background.

Those two traitors. Can't even give a man a hand. "Some family you are," he jokingly bites at them.

They only laugh in response.

Eventually, he does get Peter in the car- the front seat, where he can hold onto Tony as much as he desires.

And when they get home, the kid changes into his Avengers pajamas and crawls into bed with him, clinginess in full drive until dawn.

Peter's adhesive tendencies are apparent to even the public, the media. Tony can't begin to count the number of times he'd taken Peter out somewhere and a picture of them with their arms interlocked or their fingers laced together (as they're doing mundanely normal things like ordering hot dogs at a stand or walking through Central Park) surfaced on the internet.

The pictures come with full-length articles containing a majority of positive things when he reads through them.

Just to be sure.

In the following week, Peter asks if he can come down to SI with him and Tony says yes. It's only a few floors down from the penthouse anyway, it isn't like anything bad is going to happen.

And of course, when he shows up in a three-piece suit with his kid dressed in jeans and a De La Soul t-shirt, people are intrigued. Most wave, others grin and some don't know what to say at all.

Pepper meets them halfway and kisses Tony before kissing Peter on the forehead. "Did Tony drag you here?" she asks with a knowing smile.

"Actually," Tony himself intervenes, "mini-me wanted to experience an _exciting_ day here at Stark Industries!"

"Exciting? Peter, honey, he's got you fooled. He can't even stand being here for more than two hours." Pepper laughs and hands him a manila folder. 

Peter quietly giggles at that.

The first half of the day is spent in Tony's office, on the sofa in the corner; he works away on a few documents while the kid has his feet propped on his lap as he watches and comments on Modern Family on his phone. He has his PA deliver some take-out and smoothies for lunch, they engage in a disgusting and accidentally started burping contest later on.

It's in the afternoon that he decides to go on a short coffee break. In the lounge, a few other people are casually talking by the counter when he and Peter walk in. They quieten for calculated seconds before they slowly resume their conversation. 

"Can I have some coffee too?" the kid asks, standing on his toes to grab a mug of his own. He's not even remotely close to reaching the shelf.

"Absolutely not, coffee is bad for you," but he hands him a mug anyway. It's very hard to say no to him. Anyone else who has met the kid can corroborate on the fact.

He pours Peter less than half a cup and spouts a copious amount of milk and sugar in to mix with it.

He's going to be hyperactive for hours, though there's not much of a difference between calm Peter and sugar-high Peter.

Just as they're leaving, Peter trips over his untied shoelace and takes a tumble, face first, to the floor. His cup goes flying and coffee spills onto the ground and in moments closely following, there's a bout of silent. The two people chatting in back pause and go eerily still as they gape at the scene, even Tony goes stiff. Peter shakily rises with a dripping bloody and red nose, with tears in his eyes and pink-blotched cheeks.

Immediately, the kid reaches for him and he goes to his quick rescue, crouching in front of him. "Hey, hey, bud, you alright?" he pulls Peter into a tight hug and he can feel the kid griping at the lapels of his suit.

"My nose," he muffles into Tony's shoulder.

"Aw, I'm sorry. Right, do you think you can stand up?"

"Y-yeah,"

"Okay, that's good. Let's get you cleaned up alright?"

The workplace has a field day when he's seen walking around the area with his kid tightly gripping onto his side. He takes Peter back into his office where he sits him onto the table and cleans the blood from his face with a wet wipe. Predictably, Peter doesn't dare leave his side for the remainder of the day.

Sometimes Tony feels like a comfort item, solely designed for the kid. At his disposal whenever he needs him.

He doesn't want to encourage a strong sense of dependency, as he wants Peter to be able to fend for himself and be his own person. But it doesn't matter that he's thirteen, for all the knows, his kid can be twenty-five and he'll always stand with open arms.

He also guesses he has Howard to thank for showing him all the things a father does and doesn't do.

It's paying off.

"Happy birthday!" 

A moderately heavy weight crashes on top of him as he blinks his eyes open. With two bright brown eyes staring down and a toothy smile flashing before him, he makes out the youthful shape of Peter's face. "Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack Pete."

He frowns and Tony can sense the panic on his face. "I did?"

"No, no, I'm just joking, come here," he pulls Peter down and plants a long and gentle kiss onto his forehead.

"Ow, your beard is itchy,"

"And you smell like burnt batter, what are you hiding?"

Peter giggles before he runs out of the room and comes back with a platter of breakfast and a handcrafted card. All at the same time, Tony is surprised and taken aback. It's been years (if not decades) since someone has made him breakfast in bed on his birthday. "Kid, you didn't have to do this."

He's isn't the best at accepting gifts. He's more of a giving and not a receiving person.

As a result, his emotions get the better of him when Peter shows him and starts reading his card. Printed on the craft paper itself is the first candid picture someone ever took of them; Pepper had taken the photo, it was during New Years Eve when he carried Peter on his back so he could watch the ball drop in Times Square.

He puts the card into a frame and puts it up so it hangs majestically in the hallway.

There's a party that evening, music, friends and the whole nine yards. The others had organized it completely unbeknownst to him, unsurprising since his close ones happen to be spies, former soldiers and secret agents. Tony walks around the whole night with his hands on Peter's shoulders, in a way, he's the best gift of them all. Paying no offense to the silk tie Steve had given him or the set of Iron Man mugs Happy pushed into his hands. 

"What are you doing?" Tony laughs and asks as Peter tightly squeezes his arms around his torso.

"Giving you my present,"

"Which is...?"

The kid toothily smiles at him and it's in the moment that Tony realizes he wouldn't mind having Peter glued to his side for the rest of eternity.

"A forever hug. Happy birthday Tony,"

**Author's Note:**

> i didn't like this at all, sorry if it comes off as bad or weird but this is sort of a filler for the next part ;\


End file.
